In the Shadows by Lillith Devero (ebook audio reader txt) 📖

minutes ago. Why hadn't he been staked then? He thought, distracting himself.
He sat there in the near darkness, able to see perfectly fine with his vampire vision when he sensed two bodies in the distance. If they were coming for him, and if they kept the same speed, they would be in front of him in less than ten minutes.
He lay down on the ground and feigned sleep, figuring that that was his best chance for survival, and waited for his impending doom to steal him away from this world.

The wolf was nervous. Not yet to the point of worry, but just nervous. Lord Tempest hadn’t returned from his hunt yet.
He stopped his pacing, took a deep breath, and gazed around the space that they had decided to reside in for as long as they were in this town. It was actually not bad, not bad at all. It had been one of his master’s hideaways back when he had still been the ruler of the supernatural community, not just the vampire community as he had been quickly informed. Safely underneath one of the few old mausoleums in the cemetery lay their safe haven for the time being, they didn’t reside in the coffins inside, not because they were occupied but because after Lord Tempest’s entrapment in the cold, unforgiving earth, he was still weary to stay in an enclosed space for very long durations, so they stayed underneath it instead, in the long forgotten catacombs below. They weren’t fixed up nicely so the walls were just made of clay and dirt, just like the floor and there was no furniture, but the upside was that they were easy to escape if the need arose. After Tempest had begun his hunt he had set off to explore the extent of the tunnels, mapping them out as he went along.
He began pacing again, nearing worry about Lord Tempest¬.
No. He thought to himself. No. It’s Zackary Tempest. Not Lord.
Zackary had insisted on the name changes after he had risen from his grave. “We need to blend in.” He had said. “We have to adjust to them, for mortals will never adjust to us. We are different, and different, to mortals, means dangerous.”
Oh yeah? Something within him asked. Then what is your name then?
He outstretched his hand, as if to introduce himself to another. “Wolfram. Mark Wolfram.”
Chapter 4

Abby would have much rather handled her vampire situation by herself and not drag Sammy into his wrath, but from what he claimed she would end up being dead anyway and there was no way that Abby was able to cast a protective circle, but Sammy was nowhere near giving up on the slim possibility that she could be witchy. Plus, Alex had warned her not to trust unknown vampires. Abby figured that that was a good policy to keep with everyone unknown.
Abby sighed again as she pulled at the black leather chocker that she had worn to prevent anyone from seeing the obvious marks in her neck. Even though she was ‘Goth’ she still didn’t personally like chokers, she felt as though they restricted her breathing worse than corsets. She couldn’t deny that the choker was gorgeous though. It was simple black around her neck but dangling from it by two sets of chains was a stunning silver cross that had a lace-like pattern in it. Even though it had cost her a good amount of her ‘fun money’ she knew that it was just too beautiful to pass up.
Sammy noticed her discomfort and nudged her with her elbow. “Hey don’t worry. I’ll take care of him as soon as we get the information that we need.” She said with bitterness in her voice that wasn’t like her.
Abby just nodded. Sammy almost felt like an older, protective sister when Abby was threatened. She really didn’t like seeing her like this. She was always harsh and near ruthlessness at times like these. It didn’t really make her feel any better, if anything; it almost freaked her out even more.
Abby shuffled her feet reluctantly as she and Sammy walked back to their prisoner, getting ever closer. They had had to stop for some coffee to keep them up for the rest of the night otherwise neither of them was going to make it until the sun came up. If they hadn’t gone they would be watching him now, waiting for him to awaken. She didn’t understand why she was so upset, but excited about seeing him again. Every time she looked at his face she got butterflies zooming around in her stomach. She definitely knew that that was not what she was supposed to be feeling for this man. Sammy had called him a ‘creature’ but Abby just couldn’t call him that, it just felt wrong, deep, deep down in her soul.
Once they got several feet from the train car, she felt as though she could feel him. She quickly dismissed the feeling as lightheadedness from the loss of blood, which really was not enough to cause any difference to her body, and she kept walking.
Sammy pulled the door open with a small grunt and ushered Abby inside, pulling out a flashlight as she did so.

He heard them enter the room but didn’t turn to face them as they did so. He was still hoping that they would fall for his trick and, thinking him dead, they would lower the spell, which would allow his very alive self to rip out their throats. He could almost chuckle at the stupidity of humans, but that would reveal his ruse.
“Okay. He’s dead. Let’s just leave.” His previously chosen victim pleaded. Oddly enough, even with his eyes closed, he could almost see where the girl was located. He had no idea where the other girl was though. He knew that the other human was female as soon as she had been close enough for his nose to detect.
“Abby. He is obviously not dead.” She sounded as if she was standing in front of him, facing the north, probably looking at him to detect life. He now had a name to go with his victim’s face. The name didn’t suit her though. She was too beautiful for ‘Abby’. “Why do you care what happens to this… creature anyway? He probably seduced you didn’t he?” She said, her voice full of rage, specifically directed at him.
“What? Nothi-”
“No, no, no. Don’t try to deny it Abby!” He could smell the evil in the woman standing before him in intense magnitudes. He had no doubt that she was, in fact, evil. And he was also pretty sure that ‘Abby’ didn’t know.
He could almost feel Abby sigh as she did so. He would have focused on it more if the other hadn’t started calling out his bluff.
“You’re obviously not passed out, as if you thought that that could possibly work against me.” The witch said, zapping him with a spell that he couldn’t identify, partially because of the fact that she had cast it silently but mainly because it was difficult to think past the pain. He broke out in spasms on the floor, painful enough to cause him to scream but he held it back to keep his dignity. But luckily, they ended after a few seconds.
He only lay there for a little while to collect himself before he stood up and glared at the mystery witch. “Love,” He said, brushing dirt off of his slacks, “You have no idea who you’re messing with.”

His accent could easily make her melt to her knees. Of that she was very sure. It was so silky smooth; it seemed as if it belonged more in a commercial than in real life.
Before now she hadn’t taken the time to notice his apparel. He was wearing a freakishly expensive suit, minus any kind of tie. He didn’t need a tie. The ensemble seemed complete without. His back was to her, but she really didn’t care, his back was exquisite even with clothes on. But without clothes on, it would be even more-
No! She pulled a tighter grip on her emotions. He awaked things in her like no other guy ever could, she was excruciatingly sure of that.
“You are in no position to threaten me, vampire.” Sammy spat at the guy that she had just been gushing over. “I should just kill you now and get it over with.” She unsheathed a knife that Abby hadn’t noticed from her waist and pointed it at him.
“Why didn’t you in the first place? I was fairly surprised to awaken at all!” He burst, getting as close as he could to Sammy, being unable to pass the barrier, and ignoring the knife as if it weren’t there at all.
“Because Abby insisted that I shouldn’t.”
The vampire turned around and looked at her as if that had been the first time that he had noticed her standing there. “Ah. Well isn’t that sentimental. Abby, isn’t it?” He smiled almost nastily at her, while she tried not to let her fear show through her face.
He didn’t face Abby for long because Sammy gripped him in a spell and turned him to face her. “What,” Sammy said, almost yelling at him, “are you doing in our town?”
“Ah. Right to point, eh?” He said as if he was trying to send her off the deep end. “Well, I stopped in to get a bite to eat,” He smiled in Abby’s general direction, “and to rest my head for the day. Got a problem with that?”
“Yes, I happen to have a problem with that!” She screamed at him, officially going off of the deep end, and at the same time releasing her spell on him. “You could have killed her!”
He only rolled his eyes at her. “I was going to take a quick sip and be on my way and leave her unharmed, but I was… incapacitated for a moment and unable to depart.” He shrugged, “How was I supposed to know that my selected snack would end up being a Guide? It’s not exactly like they give you a ‘Who to Not Munch On’ informational packet!”
Sammy, still fuming, yelled at him as she walked around the circle. “That is no excuse!”
Abby walked over to her, grabbed her, and turned Sammy to face her. “That is a perfectly legitimate excuse and you know it!” She said shaking her. Letting go of her she walked back to where she had been standing, bowed her head and whispered, “Let him go.”
Sammy only looked at her in shock. “What?”
“Let him go!”
Sammy jumped back at her scream, but still began to whisper the reverse spell in Latin all the same as Abby walked out the door.
She stood there for a few minutes staring at the moon until she heard footsteps behind her. She slowly turned around and looked into the stunningly handsome face of her attacker. I should be absolutely terrified right now. She thought to herself,